How will you measure success?

In the 1st 24 hour I did well at, I had to let 80% of the field pull away from me on the 1st lap ... You have to check your ego at the door.  I was talking to a woman and finally about 5 minutes into the race, I told her it was way too fast for me I would have to let her go.  I ended up 1st with 147 miles and she was second with 121.

My 2nd 24 I did well at I also was able to check my ego.  I was in the botton 1/2 of the field (Men and Woman) through 12 hours.  I ended up 12th out of > 200 athletes with 154 miles

The other 6 times I have run a 24 hour race - I have paced poorly, unable to keep my effort level low enough.  Sometimes it has been from stupid ego, other times because I had to push to the edge to try and reach a goal.  But every time it resulted in failure and many less miles than I could have run if I had paced slower.

I figure if I can run a 2:45 marathon (6:18 pace) the right pace to start a 24 hour race is 8:45-9:00 minute miles.